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Thor and Loki are looking for their father Odin in Thor Ragnarok. As they arrive on Earth,

Loki disappears and Thor is given the address "177A Bleecker Street".

When Thor goes to that place, he meets

Doctor Strange, portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch. Benedict Cumberbatch is also famous for being the BBC version of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, and Sherlock Holmes address is known to be 221B Baker Street.

The two names sound similar. Is it a nod to the series that revealed this actor?

Taladris
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  • The street in New York City is spelled "Bleecker", not "Bleeker". – Nate Eldredge Nov 12 '17 at 17:05
  • I believe it's spelled that way in the comics, too, but not in the movie. Not sure why. – KutuluMike Nov 12 '17 at 17:32
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    And not one noticed that Doctor Strange can travel time. So the easter egg is the other way around. Sherlock is a reference to Dr Strange. But as a kid that copy homeworks, he failed to make it looks different. Sherlock is not so smart. – Drag and Drop Nov 13 '17 at 09:46
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    The specific street name may not be an Easter egg, but wasn't the piece of music played in that scene also similar to the score of the other series? In that case, it might be an Easter egg after all. Would write as an answer, but I'm not sure if I remember correctly. – August Janse Nov 13 '17 at 10:01
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    On the same lines: even if the choice of address was Dr. Strange's comics address, the decision to deliberately point out this address was probably made knowing that fans would be reminded of Sherlock and/or think it a funny coincidence. – kaine Nov 13 '17 at 12:16
  • @DragandDrop That awkward moment when a fictional character was smart enough to invent a discipline that revolutionized modern crime analysis is the dumbest guy in the room... – corsiKa Nov 13 '17 at 19:28
  • @NateEldredge You're bleaker. – Paul D. Waite Mar 11 '20 at 15:12

3 Answers3

95

Actually no

177A Bleecker Street is the address of Doctor Strange in the comics, so it is just a funny coincidence.

This article by CBR.com explains it neatly:

The first time that Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum was given an address was in 1969’s “Doctor Strange” #182, written by Roy Thomas

Bleecker Street is simply the author's address at the time:

the writer of “Doctor Strange” #182 happened to have lived there (as did Namor and Daredevil creator Bill Everett).

Taladris
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    But is "177A Bleeker Street" nevertheless a reference to Sherlock Holmes, who's lived in 221B Baker Street since the 19th century, long before 1969's "Doctor Strange"? – Rand al'Thor Nov 12 '17 at 16:51
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    Unlikely Bleeker Street is famous enough in itself as the heart of the trendy Greenwhich Village area of New York, it's probably just a coincidence. – Sarriesfan Nov 12 '17 at 17:12
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    @Randal'Thor It was the actual home address of the comic writer, not likely a reference to anything else in fiction. – KutuluMike Nov 12 '17 at 17:30
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    Hey, Greenwich is also the name of a district in London, so are you still saying it's a coincidence? – Mr Lister Nov 12 '17 at 20:37
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    @MrLister Greenwich is a long way from Baker Street (its over in Marylebone) – HorusKol Nov 13 '17 at 02:18
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    And Thor 2's climatic battle takes place in Greenwich, which is surely, undoubtedly, a reference to London AND Doctor Strange, because of Sherlock Holmes and Cumberbatch, written years before Cumberbatch was even cast, because Strange time travelled and... please! – Simone Nov 13 '17 at 07:55
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    @Randal'Thor - The street name itself was the last name of the family that donated the land the street initially ran through to the city back in 1808 (80 years before the first Sherlock Holmes publication). So the street name cannot have anything to do with Holmes. – T.E.D. Nov 13 '17 at 10:23
  • @ranal'thor But the street name alone is kind of a stretch. The reason it seems like they are related is partly because Benedict Cumberbatch played both Strange and Holmes. And the original comic had little to do with Cumberbatch. – Misha R Nov 13 '17 at 13:59
  • Is there anything more bleak than bleeker street? – Jack B Nimble Nov 13 '17 at 15:04
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    Thanks, I was positive it was a funny nod, but now it's just an insane coincidence. – EvSunWoodard Nov 13 '17 at 17:09
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    @JackBNimble Clearly you've never been to Bleekest Street. – Tin Wizard Nov 13 '17 at 20:52
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    It's clear from the linked article (and comic reproduction there), but it might make your answer clearer if you specify that the full *177A Blee(c)ker Street* is from the 1969 comic. Which still leaves room to hypothesize that the filmmakers dropped that C to look more like Baker Street. – 1006a Nov 13 '17 at 22:57
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    Also the background music follows the same sherlock blue jazz theme. – Sagar Saxena Nov 14 '17 at 09:18
  • @1006a: I don't understand your advice. Isn't it the already second sentence of my answer? Actually, I wrote Bleeker St. out of memory a few days after watching the movie. And I know next to nothing about NY streets. Do you remember how the address was spelt during the movie? – Taladris Nov 14 '17 at 13:02
  • @1006a: I cannot find a better picture, but it seems it is actually written Bleecker St.: https://www.geek.com/tech/thor-and-loki-are-wearing-street-clothes-in-thor-ragnarok-1667408/ – Taladris Nov 14 '17 at 13:15
  • I just meant in your last sentence, where you specify that the author lived there, you should reiterate that he lived at that exact address, house number included. Right now it could kind of read as if he lived on the street, but made up some or all of the number. (I was going off your spelling of the street name in the movie, so you can ignore that.) – 1006a Nov 14 '17 at 13:46
  • While the name is a coincidence (huh) the cinematic and the music style match that found in Sherlock. I think Waititi took advantage of this coincidence to humorously introduce Cumberbatch. – Agustín Lado Nov 14 '17 at 17:32
  • Clearly, Roy Thomas is actually Sherlock Holmes, due to the similarity in their addresses. – RDFozz Jun 28 '18 at 18:58
8

No. 177A Bleeker Street has been the address of the Sanctum Sanctorum since the 60s, long before Benedict Cumberbatch played either Sherlock Holmes or Dr. Strange.

J Doe
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    Yes but you do realize that Sherlock Holmes and his well-known address predates all these comics, right? Sherlock Holmes existed long before Benedict came along and played the character. – JeffC Nov 13 '17 at 05:55
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    Why are you asking me and not the questioner? – J Doe Nov 13 '17 at 09:06
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    @JeffC Yes but so what? Without the coincidence of Cumberbatch playing both S. Holmes and Dr Strange, the only link is 'a comic book character has an address that sounds a bit like the address of a litererary character'. – mcalex Nov 13 '17 at 09:15
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    @JeffC - However, Sherlock Holmes is 80 years newer than that street having that name. So the only way the "homage" could exist would be "Baker" being named after Bleecker, except "Baker" was also a guy in the 17th Century. Far more likely its just a coincidence. The people who named and numbered streets in London and New York City weren't that culturally different from each other. – T.E.D. Nov 13 '17 at 10:30
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    @T.E.D. They're not saying the street was named after Holmes, only that the choice of street for Dr Strange comes form the choice of address for Sherlock Homes. – Bellerophon Nov 13 '17 at 22:53
  • @Bellerophon - No, because the first comment here, and the top answer both rule that out too. – T.E.D. Nov 14 '17 at 02:10
  • Let me just quickly settle this- it was an address the marvel comic writers stayed in which had supernatural stories to it – yolo Apr 29 '19 at 06:42
-1

Yes, possibly. As other answers say, the street name in question is in fact from the comics and cannot be an easter egg by itself. However, the music played in the scene is very similar to the soundtrack of the BBC series, as noted by many. There may be other references in the scene, as one Reddit user notes:

Definitely paying respects to Sherlock that whole scene. From the walkup angle of the unassuming door as the piano theme played, Strange's fast-paced questioning-deduction-"let's get to work" style, the research scenes with the sharp cuts, all of that was lifted from any of the Sherlock episodes.

As far as I know, creators have not confirmed this.

August Janse
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